Target practise
by Batzlover
Summary: A confrontation between a cranky green arrow and a cranky batman... or rather, their projectiles. Set somewhere after season 1 of Justice League Unlimited


**This is my first fanfic and as you guessed from the name, I am a big fan of batman and the DC universe. This is a little funny one-shot I thought of at school recently. Hope you enjoy it!**

Batman was having a really rough day. He had to suffer through 5 board meetings, 5! Each with different divisions of Wayne Enterprises, there was a serial killer on loose in Gotham who was turning out to be as unpredictable as the joker, he had barely 2 hours of sleep in over 3 days, and to top it all, the coffee machine...the second most important tool of the batman after his utility belt had broke along with his patience. Alfred had tried to reassure him that he would have it replace in n hour but surprisingly, the man who can wait for over 5 hours without twitching on stakeout had to remember every anger management technique taught to him by his teachers in the mountains of Tibet not to simply annihilate the remains of the coffee machine. Instead, he decided to try his luck at the watchtower commissary for his caffeine needs.

After practically devouring his third cup of coffee, he was finally able to think clearly and plan out his day. He remembered that his aim with batarangs had been shaky all through the week. Well, it couldn't hurt to improve it at the training room. As he entered the training facility, he could only see one available. That's convenient he thought as he readied his aim.

The arrow hit bulls-eye just as the batarang sliced the air cutting through the arrow's shaft embedding itself just few centimetres away from the centre. Surprised, batman surveyed the arrow looking for clues about its origin and soon found them. Only one person in the league can hit the dead centre from this distance, the green coloured arrows were also a giveaway to the name of their owner

'Green arrow' said batman in the most intimidating voice possible.

* * *

Green arrow was feeling too cranky to be considered safe to be with. The people in Queen Consolidates were as always, not agreeing with his proposition of using the profits of the company for the betterment of the poor and needy or Star City, there was a killer loose in his city and granted, that he never was much of a detective, he was not being able to identify the person. It wasn't even that he was excellent at covering his tracks, in fact, he was sure that by the amount of clues he has left over the past 3 days, even plastic man would have been able to deduce the killer's name; either that or the killer was simply mocking him by leaving false clues which wasn't exactly an ideal motivation for him

Looking for an outlet for his frustration, he bee lined for the training room, the way everyone gave him a wide berth as he walked by, he would have thought batman is nearby but seeing that he was beyond his normal cranky levels and the amount of sleep (or lack thereof) he had, all he needed was a shave and a costume change to scare the crap out of Gotham criminals. As he entered the facility he saw only one empty archery spot and batman moving towards it. Oh no you don't he thought as he got ready to release the arrow just as batman prepared to throw the batarang.

* * *

'Sup bats' the reply came in a taunting voice.

'I came here first'

'My arrow begs to differ. How about a trade-off, whoever hits a bulls eye first wins the spot'

'Without even conforming to the new rule, batman immediately released 3 batarangs aimed for the centre. But arrow was prepared for this, he just as quickly fired 3 arrows which met the batarangs in the air and deflected them off course.

'My turn' he murmured as he fired 3 arrows towards the centre. Batman threw 3 batarangs at each of the arrow at the feathered part of the arrow cutting them off the main body. Without them, the air carried he arrows off course.

That started a war. Arrows flew, batarangs were aimed the remains of the arrow feathers and deflected batarangs started to pile around the area. Green arrow was just about to sent another wave of arrows when a batarang hit his bow at disrupted his aim.

'Hey! That's cheating' he shouted

'Cant exactly cheat when there are no rules' he replied

'Then its time to return the favour' arrow muttered under his breath as he took aim for batman's throwing arm. He had just fired the arrow when he saw it being cut down by one batarang.

'So predictable' Batman said. His smirk almost tangible. After that, half the projectiles were aimed at the board while the other half were aimed at the other

By this time, all the other leaguers who were previously minding their own business started to gather around them placing bets.

'My money's on arrow, I mean he fires arrows at criminals so I bet he's more experienced in firing projectiles than batman' said booster gold.

'You definitely haven't seen him in action then goldy, I have seen him take out entire crowds of thugs with his batarangs, my money is on bats' countered Wally. All the leaguers started arguing on the outcome but the 2 heroes in question didn't even notice them in their need to prove themselves superior over the other. The fact they were aware of was that their supply of batarangs and arrows, already low from their patrol were being reduced to zero.

At last, as batman reached into his utility belt and green arrow put his hand in his quiver; both finding them surprisingly empty. With stunned expressions on their faces (more noticeable on Oliver's) they looked at each other in a new form of respect. Green arrow realised that this is the only time a non Meta made him use all the arrows in his quiver. Batman realised that even though he hadn't gone through such rigorous training as him, Green arrow was still one of the best non Meta member the league has. However, this outcome didn't bode well with the audience. People were grumbling as they paid up their money to the people who had voted for a draw, who agreeably weren't many.

As both batman and green arrow slowly retreated to the exit of the facility, batman went through the right while green arrow went through the left exit; they both wondered the same thing, is it worth it, I mean just for winning a spot on the practise spot when he wouldn't even have arrows/batarangs for practise? But now, the question wasn't just about practising first, it was about their pride and their skills, which they both have spent several years honing to perfection. The decision was made

As they were about to exit, batman drew his last batarang from under his gauntlet as green arrow drew his last arrow from a secret place in his quiver and they both shot at the bulls eye at the same time. The batarang removed the feathers from the arrow steering it off course and, as a result, hit the wall due to change in direction by the arrow. All the heroes present there looked at the 2 heroes in astonishment while the heroes in question raised their eyes from their failed attempts to defeat the other, exchanged a silent nod of appreciation of their skills and walked away without saying another word.

THE END

 **Like it? Please review and point out if there were any grammatical mistakes. Thanks for reading!**


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